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The Wider World of RfK
THE WIDER WORLD OF REQUIEM FOR KINGSMOUTH Boston is a bastion of the Invictus, where the Shadow-Prince Albert Whitegrave has ruled with a steady hand for almost two centuries, ever since the decline and torpor of the patron of House Steele, the Invictus cyclical dynastic house that first claimed Boston for the First Estate. House Whitegrave now steers the ship of state, with Albert's childe, Melissa, poised to take the helm of the Praxis when Albert feels his blood call him to slumber in about thirty years, it is guessed. In the meantime, Bishop Matthew Armitage, Sanctified Lord, leads the Longinian faithful and the Sanctified clergy, in a traditional "church and state" dynamic. His Paladin, Aldous Masterson, Sanctified Serpent, is a feared and dangerous Mortifier of the Flesh. So far, the two Covenants get along merrily in Boston, at least for the time being. There is a small Ordo Dracul presence in Boston as well, led by the Nosferatu Kogaion Chilblaine, but they are marginalized for the most part. There is also something of an old, but well-established Carthian presence, which, interestingly enough, has not only been left unmolested by the Invictus,but enjoys some degree of long-standing amicability with the other Covenants in town. This "Gentleman's Agreement of 1777" was the result of American Invictus seeking Carthian aid in breaking away from Invictus of the Mother Country, and the documents of that Agreement remain enforced by a combination of long-standing Oaths and Carthian Law. The town of Marblehead is the sovereign territory of the Invictus Dynastic House of Blackmoth, an antiquated but noble House of Gangrel country lords. Though House Blackmoth lost its Ancient Jeremiah to the Revolutionary War, the surviving few Elders of House Blackmoth have been more than vigorous in maintaining their ancestral claim to Marblehead. The less reclusive of this House tend to attend Court in Boston, but have comparatively less stake in the city than the more urban Houses and the Sanctified. Salem is the site of a century and a half long cold war between the Circle of the Crone and the Lancea et Sanctum. Ever since the first covens were formed, the Archbishop, Danielle McCrimmon, Sanctified Savage, has been waging covert wars of influence against them and their Hierophant, Ashley Arnold, Acolyte Serpent. Open conflict has not broken out in over forty years, but sorcerous engagements happen almost nightly, in an endless series of magical sorties called the War of Shadows and Blood. The sheer amount of sorcery being thrown around is fairly staggering to those unused to it. It doesn't look like the situation is going to improve, and the other Covenants don't want to touch it, for fear of setting off a powder keg. Danvers, like Marblehead, is too small to support much more than a single direct lineage of Kindred, and is thus populated entirely by the Invictus Dynastic House of Morgan, all Spina and descendants of the Spina Ancient, Edgeworth Morgan, grand-childe of Artus le Jumel himself. The town of Danvers is, as far as Kindred politics go, an elite training ground for the Knights of the Order of the Thorned Wreath. Edgeworth's childer are all Elders, with incredible fighting prowess that has earned them fame in Invictus circles, and fame outside of them, as well. Many Thorned Wreath cells have earned their start in Danvers, where House Morgan passed along its knowledge not only of one-on-one combat, but of small unit tactics and commando training, as well. In severe emergencies where the Praxis of Boston is threatened, House Morgan is required to come to the Prince's aid. Annisquam, Rockport and Gloucester, which comprise the greater urban core on Cape Ann, are ruled in the night by the Three Sisters of Wrath, an Acolyte triumvirate of sorts that brought the squabbling covens of Cape Ann together to wipe out all the other Covenants there. Little is known about the state of Cape Ann, because few that are not Acolytes ever return from a visit, and even then, survival is not guaranteed. Ipswich and Bolton are both firmly controlled by Dragon-Princes of the Ordo Dracul. However, they diverge in that Bolton follows the more liberal and open Philadelphian Rite, while Ipswich is firmly Wallachian. Boltonite Dragons tend to hold open occult lectures, although they tend to shy away from information that could lead to inferences about the Coils. This does not stop Ipswich Dragons from occasionally lodging protests, and the Twilight Judge, Cesar Montalban, Defiant Haunt, has had more than his share of judicial headaches come out of this part of Massachusetts. Essex and Essex Falls, two very small towns, are not even large enough for any more than a single Kindred each. However, one Kindred occupies each respective town. The Osite scholar Macellarius and his childe, Andronicus, occupy Essex and Essex Falls, respectively. Though little enough is known about them, it is rumored that Macellarius has discovered a way to affect the Dead with Theban Sorcery. Having traveled extensively through Mesoamerica, the pair has between them an extensive knowledge of funerary rites, customs, and sorceries. This is unsurprising, perhaps, given their lineage. Amesbury was until recently ruled by an Invictus Prince, advised by a Sanctified Bishop, and governed on a smaller scale by a Primogen Council composed of the Elders of the four Invictus Dynastic Houses that comprised its Kindred population. In the space of five months, however, this completely changed. The Agents Provocateurs of the infamous Quebecoise Carthian, Tyrant Durand of Montreal, flipped the Domain's influence and paved the way for Durand's Legion de la Mort. These brutal "citizen-soldiers" then proceeded to behead the leaders and burn their bodies along with their havens to ashes. Newburyport is now a site of refuge for the fallen Houses of Amesbury, granted asylum by the Carthian Assembly of Newburyport, who are presently stalling the Tyrant's march through blathering diplomacy for as long as they can. But it may be only a matter of time before the Tyrant decides that enough time has been wasted attempting to save face before other Carthians, and march on them as well. With New York City as his long-awaited prize, Tyrant Durand yearns to extend his reach all the way there, and burn anyone and anything in his way.